Dedicated to wrestling with questions of faith, religion, and theology that arise in comic books and other pop culture media. Occasionally irreverent, rarely sacrilegious.

Monday, February 1, 2016

Surprised by Left Behind: The Kids #36

At some other point in time, I’ll
discuss WHY I’m reading the 40-book Left Behind: The Kids series. But for
now, let me discuss a number of surprisingly good moments I found in Book 36, “Ominous
Choices.”

I understand that the phrase “surprisingly
good” is a backhanded compliment. Let me say that I am not criticizing the
technical skill of Chris Fabry, the actual writer of the young adult series. He
did a very good job weaving recognizable events from the main Left Behind
series into early books in his series, keeping the timelines of the two series consistent.

But what I’m referring to here as
“surprisingly good” are events that I was genuinely surprised to find portrayed
in a YA book published more than a decade ago by an evangelical publishing house. For example, there
is a childbirth scene that is not graphic by any means, but is more specific
and realistic than I was expecting to find.

But the biggest surprise was the
resolution of the situation that one of our lead characters for the entire
series found himself in. Lionel became pinned under a large boulder, and after
many prayers for his rescue, he went “127 hours” on himself and cut off his own
arm. In a series where angels regularly perform miracles, and many character
were praying for Lionel’s rescue, this resolution is surprising.

During Lionel’s ordeal, Judd searched
for aid for his friend, and ran into a kindly doctor who helped him, despite having
pledged his allegiance to the Anti-Christ. Judd shared the gospel with the man,
and he was moved by Judd, but he did not respond by accepting Christ. In fact,
he responded by killing himself.

These situations each show a theological
subtlety that is rarely if ever displayed in the prior 35 books in the series. The
specific acts portrayed also depart from the highly sanitized books that preceded this one.

I wonder if with five books left
in the series, the editors decided to “let things go.” Or perhaps Fabry just
decided to push the borders a bit, again knowing that only five books were left
in the series. However and whyever this change happened, I hope it continues as
the series moves towards its conclusion.